San Diego Loyal SC concluded its three-match road series in dramatic fashion Saturday, bouncing back for a 3-3 draw against defending league champions San Antonio FC.
Evan Conway and second-half substitute Ronaldo Damus helped to complete the comeback at Toyota Field, combining for three goals in a span of 20 minutes, including Damus’ late equalizer five minutes into stoppage time.
With the tie, SD Loyal (6-4-3, 21 points) secured a much needed road point in the Western Conference standings.
If San Diego benefitted from a late 20-minute run, the team was bitten by one early from San Antonio.
The match marked the first meeting between the two sides since SD Loyal fell 1-0 in Texas last season. The hosts started out strong, getting on the scoreboard in just three minutes. Attacking up the right flank, Mitchell Taintor sent a ball into the box that bounced off the head of Tani Oluwaseyi and into the near post.
The home-side doubled its lead two minutes later off a free kick when Jorge Hernandez snuck the ball past Loyal goalkeeper Duran Ferree.
In the 16th minute off a set piece opportunity, as San Antonio midfielder Rida Zouhir swung the ball, Ferree and teammate Elliot Collier collided, leaving an open net. After a first-shot attempt from Oluwaseyi ricocheted off the post, Taintor buried the second effort from close range.
Though things looked ominous, four minutes later, SD Loyal received a boost when Oluwaseyi received his second yellow card, forcing San Antonio to play down a man for the remainder of the match.
Despite a handful of chances for the rest of the first half and deep into the second, the Loyal couldn’t break through the stingy San Antonio (6-2-5, 23 points) defense until the 75th minute.
One of four halftime substitutes, Damus got the Loyal on the board when he took a pass from Grant Stoneman then volleyed a rocket through a sea of defenders and into the bottom left corner of the net.
Four minutes later off a corner kick play, Loyal Captain Alejandro Guido whipped in a cross to the back post that saw Conway rise up to head the ball past goalkeeper Jordan Farr.
With 10 minutes left to play, SD Loyal kept on knocking on San Antonio’s door, forcing Farr to make a flurry of saves.
Entering the fifth and final minute of stoppage time, the Loyal had one last chance to tie it up. After earning a 10th corner kick, Tumi Moshobane quickly passed the ball to Morgan Hackworth who fired into the box near a charging Damus. The striker headed the ball towards the back post, and it sped past Farr, who had no chance to react.
With the draw, SD Loyal remains in fourth place in the West as it heads into a two-match home stand at Torero Stadium. The club hosts first-place Sacramento Republic FC at 7 p.m. Friday, before a rematch against San Antonio on June 14.